Most recent transportation news for Florida. Published weekdays.

Norfolk Southern

08/05/2011

LAKE CITY – Construction is scheduled to begin on another section of the Palatka-Lake Butler State Trail in Union County and will follow the old Norfolk-Southern Railroad corridor which runs adjacent to State Road (SR) 100, according to the Florida DOT.

Construction signs are scheduled to be installed beginning August 15 and heavy underbrush will first be cleared so construction can begin on the four-mile section of the trail that begins in Lake Butler at SR 238 and ends at County Road (CR) 237.

The paved, 12-foot wide trail will have two-foot grass shoulders and two pedestrian bridges. Wooden fences will be installed at steep areas along the shoulder of the trail. Some of the old rail ballast will have to be removed to allow for six inches of lime rock that will be placed to form the base of the paved trail.

A parking area, called a trail head, will be built near the intersection of SR 238 and South First Street in Lake Butler. Motorists will enter and exit from South First Street and will be able to access 17 parking spaces, including two handicapped spaces and one space for an RV. The trail will continue through Lake Butler adjacent to First Street and end at CR 237. During construction, some sidewalks may have to be temporarily closed.

The Palatka-Lake Butler State Trail is an on-going project that when completed, will connect nearly 47 miles of paved trail from near SR 238 in Lake Butler to U.S. 17 in Palatka through Bradford, Clay, Union and Putnam counties.

Construction of another section of the trail is scheduled to begin this summer and will run adjacent to SR 100 in Putnam County from CR 315 to Holloway Road. The trail will be managed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Greenways & Trails program.

This section of the trail was designed by GAI Consultants and will be built by J.B. Coxwell Contracting, Inc., both of Jacksonville. The entire project will cost $1,324,400. Work is expected to be completed by early 2012.

07/28/2011

JACKSONVILLE – This northeastern Florida city is rife with trains. For example, consider this CSX intermodal train leaving the city and Moncrief Yard today. The engineer is looking at a restricting signal – yellow on the bottom of a stack of three – to continue southward to the Florida East Coast Ry. connection. The upper lights on the mast are red. Lead engine 7329 is an ex-Conral CW40-8. Amtrak will follow part of this route in less than one hour. Other CSX crews are switching various branch lines around the city, from the docks at JaxPort to the former Seaboard Air Line route to Yulee.

Amtrak’s lengthy Silver Meteor train No. 97, is running about 20 minutes late as it rounds CSX’s south leg of Honeymoon wye en route to Miami. The train originated in New York City yesterday at 3:15 p.m. in Penn Station (NYP). The engineer has a clear signal leaving Jacksonville. A pair of P-42s, each developing 4,200 horsepower, are moving the train at the posted passenger train speed limit,30 mph (25 for freights), around the curve and Duke’s Crossing. That’s a place that used to connect over a diamond to the right in the photo, which is out of service. Track has been torn up and major rock distributor Conrad Yelvington Distributors gets its rocks from another entryway, on the far side of Yelvington yard, to the right of the passenger train. They even have their own switcher. The other leg of the wye has been long gone, so if commuter service ever begins along this route, it will have to be rebuilt. The diamond is still in place where No. 97 is traveling, but it has been removed from the other track. Duke's Crossing is disconnected at both ends on what was Yelvington's lead.

After Amtrak’s No 97 cleared the Moncrief yard tracks and was on its way down CSX’s A Line to Miami, a Norfolk Southern intermodal train made its way from Simpson Yard in northern Jacksonville and passes Moncrief toward the FEC. It’s a run-through that will become FEC’s No. 101 – FEC’s only hotshot. It will depart Bowden Yard at around 1:30 p.m. today and arrive at Hialeah Yard in Miami at about 8:30 tonight.

Map | Google Earth

These photos were snapped on July 28 between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. The sites were near Dennis Street in one of the city’s industrial neighborhoods.

07/06/2011

JACKSONVILLE – Beginning today, the automated Skyway will run until 9:30 p.m. for every First Wednesday Artwalk. Each ride is 50 cents, and the Skyway travels from public parking areas at the Kings Avenue Station and Convention Center Station to Artwalk venues at Central Station and Hemming Plaza Station. Useful website: www.jtafla.com.

06/27/2011

WASHINGTON – The Association of American Railroads (AAR) last Thursday reported gains in weekly rail traffic, with U.S. railroads originating 294,310 carloads for the week ending June 18, 2011, up 3.3 percent compared with the same week last year. Intermodal volume for the week totaled 237,682 trailers and containers, up 4.3 percent compared with the same week last year, and setting a new weekly high for U.S. intermodal volume in 2011.

Weekly carload volume on Eastern railroads was up 1.5 percent compared with the same week last year. In the West, weekly carload volume was up 4.5 percent compared with the same week in 2010.

For the first 24 weeks of 2011, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 6,968,722 carloads, up 3 percent from last year, and 5,384,370 trailers and containers, up 8.2 percent from the same point in 2010.

Canadian railroads reported 79,077 carloads for the week, up 7.2 percent from last year, and 47,925 trailers and containers, down 4 percent from 2010. For the first 24 weeks of 2011, Canadian railroads reported cumulative volume of 1,777,851 carloads, up 2.1 percent from the same point last year, and 1,118,941 trailers and containers, up 2.3 percent from last year.

Mexican railroads reported 16,307 carloads for the week, up 4.5 percent compared with the same week last year, and 9,065 trailers and containers, up 25.7 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 24 weeks of 2011 was 346,103 carloads, up 4.6 percent compared with the same point last year, and 179,881 trailers and containers, up 14.7 percent.

Combined North American rail volume for the first 24 weeks of 2011 on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 9,092,676 carloads, up 2.8 percent compared with the same point last year, and 6,683,192 trailers and containers, up 7.3 percent compared with last year.

06/09/2011

TAMPA – Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (NasdaqCM: OMEX) said today that it intends to engage in an underwritten public offering of 4 million shares of its common stock, subject to an over-allotment option of up to 600,000 additional shares, pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement.

The underwriters for the offering will be Craig-Hallum Capital Group LLC, acting as sole bookrunner, with B. Riley Co., LLC acting as co-manager.

The offering will be conducted pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A prospectus supplement related to the offering has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A copy of the prospectus supplement and the base prospectus related to the offering may be obtained from Craig-Hallum Capital Group LLC, 222 South Ninth Street, Suite 350, Minneapolis, Minn. 55402 or by calling 612-334-6300.

06/08/2011

MCCALLA, Ala. – Norfolk Southern’s CEO Wick Moorman and Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, R, joined state and local officials and business leaders yesterday to officially break ground on the new Birmingham Regional Intermodal Facility. The $97.5 million facility is part of the railroad’s multi-state Crescent Corridor initiative to establish an efficient, high-capacity intermodal freight rail route between the Gulf Coast and the Northeast. It occupies a 316-acre site adjacent to the Jefferson Metropolitan Park in McCalla and is expected to open in late 2012.

McCalla is about 20 miles southwest of Birmingham, and is close to I-20 and I-59.

Photo/Leo King

“The Birmingham Regional Intermodal Facility is ideally located to serve the Southeast and is a critical component of our Crescent Corridor,” said Moorman. “We thank [USDOT] Secretary LaHood and USDOT for their efforts to form public-private partnerships to create jobs and economic development opportunities. We commend Gov. Bentley and his administration for their awareness of the economic and environment benefits this facility brings to Alabama.”

Bentley said, “The Birmingham Regional Intermodal Facility will bring significant economic growth to McCalla and thousands of jobs to Alabamians. As our economy is regaining strength, companies like Norfolk Southern recognize Alabama is a great place to do business.”

He added, “This new terminal will enable goods to move more quickly throughout the country.”

The Birmingham Regional Intermodal Facility is expected to create or enhance 8,600 jobs in central Alabama over the next 10 years, and its capacity will grow to handle 165,000 containers and trailers annually. A railroad official said the terminal will employ the latest in gate and terminal automation technology, which shortens the waiting time for trucks entering the terminal, improving truck driver productivity and air quality. Additionally, state-of-the-art low emission cranes and hostler tractors will operate within the terminal.

In 2010, the Birmingham Regional Intermodal Facility was selected to participate in the Sustainable Sites Initiative pilot program. This national initiative, a partnership of the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the U.S. Botanical Garden, in conjunction with stakeholder organizations including the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), seeks to establish and encourage sustainable practices throughout each phase of a landscape’s design, construction, operation, and maintenance periods. NS also will construct the main administrative building to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification standards.

The Crescent Corridor is a program of independent projects and improvements geared toward creating a high capacity 2,500 mile intermodal route spanning from New Jersey to Louisiana that touches 26 percent of the nation’s population and 30 percent of the nation’s manufacturing output. It provides the shortest intermodal double stack route between the South and the Northeast. When fully operational it will handle more rail freight traffic faster and more reliably, creating or benefiting more than 70,000 green jobs by 2030 and producing these estimated annual public benefits:

• 1.3 million long-haul trucks diverted from interstates

• $146 million in accident avoidance savings

• 1.9 million tons in CO2 reduction

• $575 million in congestion savings

• $92 million in highway maintenance savings

• 169 million gallons in fuel savings

The Crescent Corridor program of projects is estimated to cost $2.5 billion for full development. In addition to the McCalla facility, Crescent Corridor projects currently planned for development include new independent intermodal facilities at Charlotte, N.C., Greencastle, Pa., and Memphis, Tenn.; the expansion of the Harrisburg, Pa. intermodal terminal; and the addition of freight rail capacity in Virginia and Mississippi. In addition to facility investments, the program includes significant investments in rail route improvements consisting of additional passing tracks, double track projects, improved signaling systems and other track speed enhancements.

Norfolk Southern Corp. is one of the nation’s premier transportation companies. Its Norfolk Southern Ry. subsidiary operates approximately 20,000 route miles in 22 states and the District of Columbia, serves every major container port in the eastern U.S. The carrier has Florida facilities in Jacksonville and Lake City.

05/20/2011

WASHINGTON – America’s railroads on Wednesday honored the industry’s safety achievements and celebrated railroads with the best employee safety records at the annual E.H. Harriman Awards.

Among line-haul railroads, whose employees worked 15 million employee-hours or more, Norfolk Southern received the gold award for the 22nd year in a row. CSX Transportation won the silver award and Union Pacific Railroad the bronze award.

One railroad in each category was honored for showing the most improvement in injury rates between 2009 and 2010. Awards went to CSX Transportation, CN, U.S. Operations, Pacific Harbor Line and the Port Terminal Railroad Assn. (S&T).

Line-haul railroads whose employees worked 4 to 15 million employee-hours, the gold award went to Kansas City Southern Railway for the fifth year in a row. The silver award went to Canadian Pacific (U.S. Operations), while the bronze went to Canadian National (U.S. Operations).

According to the Association of American Railroads (AAR), 2010 was the safest year ever for railroads, with significant reductions achieved in train accidents and employee casualties.

In 2010, train accidents on U.S. Class I freight railroads were down 3 percent with the rate per-million-train-miles falling 9.6 percent from the previous record established in 2009. The number of employee casualties on U.S. Class I freight railroads fell by 14.2 percent, while the employee casualty rate measured per-hundred full-time equivalent employees declined 16 percent from the previous record set in 2009.

“It is the tremendous dedication and hard work of our employees that makes rail the safest mode of transportation today,” said AAR President and CEO Edward R. Hamberger.

“Our industry continuously invests, innovates, improves and implements systems and technology that make our business ever safer,” he said.

Group C includes railroads whose employees worked between 250,000 and 4 million employee-hours. The gold award went to the Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad, while the Missouri and Northern Arkansas Railroads took the silver and the Paducah and Louisville Railway the bronze.

In Group S&T, for switching and terminal companies with more than 250,000 employee hours, the Gary Railway took the gold, while the silver award went to the Port Terminal Railroad Association and the Union Railroad received the bronze award.

The Harriman Awards were established by the late Mrs. Mary W. Harriman in memory of her husband, Edward H. Harriman, an American legend in railroading. Today, the awards are administered by the E.H. Harriman Memorial Awards Institute, with support from the Mary W. Harriman Foundation. Harriman winners are selected by a committee of representatives from the transportation field and are granted on the basis of the lowest casualty rates per 200,000 employee-hours worked. All data is documented by the Federal Railroad Administration.

05/18/2011

NEW YORK – Deutsche Bank has published a research report on the Mississippi flood and how the water is affecting railroads, including CSX and Norfolk Southern (NS).

In a note to investors, Deutsche Bank writes, “We have spoken with our

Benzinga, at www.benzinga.com/, an online investment advisory firm, said “Oil analysts, transportation contacts, as well as various grain and dry bulk shippers, and our contacts believe there will be little major impact across our transportation coverage as a result of the recent Mississippi flooding.”

Deutsche Bank stated, “Barge traffic, and to a lesser extent, rail service, have been impacted by flooding. Thus-far railroads RailAmerica, Genesee & Wyoming, CSX, and NSC appear to be the most impacted. The release of water down the spillways has spared most of the refiners in the region.

CSX and RailAmerica are headquartered in Jacksonville, and G&W property First Coast Railroad is based in Fernandina Beach.

As part of their fourth meeting session there will be a special breakfast panel from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., with registration and breakfast beginning at 8 a.m., to discuss regional transportation and economic development.

The RTSC was created by Senate Bill 2470 to develop a regional transportation elements plan and a strategy to implement a regional plan.

The effort is bringing together representatives from each of the seven counties in Northeast Florida – Baker, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, St. Johns and Putnam – to address and provide solutions to the region’s future transportation challenges.

05/06/2011

WASHINGTON – Norfolk Southern is joining with Union Pacific in a tariff ruling regarding moving hazardous chemicals. The Southern railroad has a stake in the outcome because it moves interchange chemical traffic over its lies to and from UP.

NS said it intends to participate but without comment. The Norfolk-based carrier filed its motion yesterday.

Attorneys for NS stated, “Norfolk Southern Railway Co. files this intent to participate in support of Union Pacific Railroad Co.’s) petition for a declaratory order regarding UP’s Tariff 6607, General Rules for Movement of Toxic and Poison Inhalation Commodity Shipments over the Lines of Union Pacific Railroad Company that includes the indemnification language described in that petition.”

The three attorneys pointed out, “NS is a participating carrier in a joint-line movement from Mcintosh, Ala., to LaPorte, Texas, that is subject to a joint-line tariff that includes this provision of UP Tariff 6607.”

“NS agrees with UP that resolving this issue is significant to railroads and shippers of toxic inhalation hazards (“TIH”) alike. It should be addressed by the Board pursuant to the Board’s recent articulation of its preference to resolve issues related to TIH transportation on a case-by-case basis.

They noted, “This petition provides an opportunity for the board to begin to address the contours of the relationship between TIH producers that freely choose to manufacture, sell, and ship these commodities and railroads that are forced by the government to transport them.”